


The anomaly

by orphan_account



Category: Ghostbusters (Movies)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Gen, Read at Your Own Risk, This is going to be gorey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-03-29 19:30:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3907903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A job, believed to be like any other turns out to… have an everlasting side effect on the Ghostbusters…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Tumblr user chickenandrice-andeverythingnice for Beta reading.

Egon awoke with a loud yelp and trembling heart. The same nightmare for the fourth time in a row. He sighed and shook his head, as if that’d make any difference at all. Slightly stretching he stood up, planning on getting a snack. A Twinkie, as always. Egon’s bare feet touched the cold floor of the place he called home. He never noticed how dull and empty his apartment seemed at night, as if something was always lurking in the shadows. Maybe he never noticed because he was used to those kinds of things. Of someone… or something watching and observing him from somewhere. The feeling of dread and paranoia sitting in the back of his head. All part of the job.

Walking past the phone, he noticed a missed call. Damn it, how did he sleep that one through? He played the message the caller left him and continued his way to his kitchen. He opened the fridge squinting a little as the light flooded the room “Geez…” he grumbled, massaging his eyes a little.

He heard the sound of the answering machine starting up as he got out a milk cartoon and a box with Twinkies. He felt like having vanilla flavored.

‘Is there Professor Egon Spengler from the Ghostbusters? My name is Marlon Smitt, and I’m calling from my apartment…’

He listened, not wanting to miss any details.

‘Ever since last week I noticed some odd things going on in the laundry basement. Screaming, crying.’

Egon fumbled thoughtfully with the packet of his Twinkies and afterwards started filling the mug with milk. seemed like an average thing to him.

‘It would always go away when I came to investigate, but when I went downstairs last night… The walls were covered in thick black… shadow like ink drops…’

For a second, he felt his mouth go dry and his heart stop, as some of the milk was spilled onto the counter. With shaky hands, he started cleaning it up, as so many thoughts ran through his mind; Could this be the same liquid as… No… This couldn’t be. He frowned slightly and continued to listen, just as nervous and warmed up the milk.

‘I don’t know what that stuff is and it’s covered the whole wall! Please scan it; I wanna know what the fuck this is and why it’s in my laundry basement.’

The message ended with the other’s address, which Egon wrote down. Grabbing his snack, he walked into his living room, realizing how… cold and uninviting it was. Has it always been that way? Always been so cold and empty? He shook his head. He was paranoid again. Egon took a deep breath, before he sat on the couch.

That call... The description... It reminded him of the nightmare he’s been having for quite some time. He saw himself standing in the middle of a room. The walls covered in a black ink like liquid. Like a liquidized shadow. It slowly closed up on him and he was engulfed in it, as it got into his eyes, his mouth and it had the metallic and bitter taste of blood and the putrid smell of decay…

His appetite was suddenly gone.

He trembled a bit, shaking off the memory. Nightmares can’t come true. Finishing his milk at least, he went back to sleep, or tried to at least. He just couldn’t sleep again. Tomorrow would be a long day.


	2. Chapter one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment he went downstairs... Their fate was sealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits go to my Beta! Thank you very much :D

Chapter 1

Ray looked impatiently at the clock and sighed. Egon had been unusually late, which worried him a bit. His colleague was always on time. Peter often said it was mostly due to the nightmares keeping Spengler awake, and Ray had to agree with him on this one. Peter had already downed his third cup of coffee as Egon arrived, almost out of breath.

“Sorry I’m late-”

“Huh. When I come late, you hold a whole speech. You think I’ll just let this slide?” Peter asked, smirking up at his co-worker, but Egon systematically ignored him and presented them with the address he had written down. “I’ll make it short: I got a call last night… More or less… By someone named Marlon Smitt, who noticed an anomaly in the laundry basement.”

“Probably just some bacteria mushroom thing.” Peter noted “Laundry basements can get pretty moist.”

“Not this time Peter. He said all sorts of supernatural happenings were going on before it appeared… It was a black ink like liquid on the walls.” Egon continued explaining, seeming a bit nervous… Anxious even. “I’ve seen a lot of fungi and bacteria in my life, but never something like that.”

“Did he say anything about supernatural activities after the liquid appeared? Or did they all stop?” Ray asked finally, sounding a little too excited.

Egon shook his head, “The liquid itself doesn’t seem dangerous… I’d say it sounds more like a sample of some sorts. It’d be enough if one of us goes to investigate and scan it.”

“No.” Ray stood up. “We’re dealing with something neither of has seen before… It’d be better if two of us went to investigate it.”

“Okay…” Egon sighed. “I’ll go with Winston.”

Ray seemed a bit disappointed, he really wanted to know what this anomaly was, and he wanted to see it with his own eyes. But the decision was accepted, even if Ray did protest a little and Winston drove them in the Ecto-1 to the address. 

 

On the way Winston asked a bit curious, “Hey, Egon…?”

“What is it Winston?” Egon looked up from Tobin’s ghost guide.

“ Those nightmares you have nowadays… What’re they about?”

“Nothing special. Just nightmares, Winston.” He put the book away and started tinkered with the PKE-reader, sighing a bit in relief when it started flashing as usual. Winston didn’t seem satisfied with the answer and got the feeling Egon was avoiding any confrontations. “Just nightmares you say? Must be some nightmare. You’ve been late almost every day these past two weeks.”

“I know. I’m not proud of it. But I can’t change that.” He looked blankly in front of him, seeing how Winston nodded.

“I got nightmares too sometimes.” He shrugged “ Real nasty nightmares too. It’s probably part of the job prescription.”  
“It must be.” Egon agreed quickly. Almost as if he wanted to convince himself of that.

“Well…” Winston chuckled “I didn’t sign up for the whole nightmare fuel shit, we deal with. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”

“Winston, while I do appreciate the fact that you’re trying to have a conversation, I’d rather not… Talk about those nightmares.”

They stayed silent for a while, until the tension got so thick Winston had to break the ice again.

“Why didn’t you go with Ray?” he asked “I would’ve guessed you’d go with him. I mean you two’re always together.”

“Well I…” Egon didn’t really seem to have an answer this time. He thought way too long about it, until he finally settled on, “I… had a weird feeling about this whole thing.”  
“Oh. Like someone would die? So you figured you’d make it like a horror movie and take the black guy with you. So you could escape.” He stated, acting all offended, but seemed to be joking.

“I didn’t mean to offend you.” Egon just mumbled, but was cut short when they finally arrived. They got out of the car and Winston couldn’t help but laugh a little “I ain’t offended. Just joking.”

“Mh…” Egon nodded and looked up the building.

It was an average apartment building. There really wasn’t anything special about it, which oddly enough seemed to unsettle Egon even more. They went to the fourth floor, where Marlon Smitt said he lived. The building itself was completely abandoned, as if nobody had been here for days. The footsteps of Egon and Winston echoed eerily while walking up the staircase, as the elevator wasn’t in use anymore. It gave Egon that feeling of uneasiness and even though Winston was saying something to, most likely, ease the tension, he still felt alone… 

And as if he’d been here before.

“Seems like the residence has been evacuated.” Egon assumed, distracting himself by waving the PKE-meter around to catch anything he would miss otherwise “I can’t get any signal. I suppose the only place infested with anything would be the laundry basement.”

“We’re gonna check that one later.” Winston said, as he stood in front of Marlon’s door. Egon knocked, and flinched slightly as the door opened. Marlon Smitt was an average looking guy, nothing really outstanding about him. He’d have been quite handsome if it weren’t for the fact that he looked incredibly tired and worn out, paranoid and scared, pale as a sheet and shakier than a bunny “A-are you the Ghostbusters?”

“Yes. We came to study the anomaly.” Egon responded.

Winston added, “How come everyone left except you?”

“I’m the superintendent. I can’t leave just yet. I had to stay here until someone came to solve the issue.” Marlon explained, letting the two inside “Can I offer you something? Tea? Coffee?”

They both declined, they were just here to inspect the anomaly.

“How long has this thing been here exactly?” Egon asked, pulling a notebook out of the pocket of his jacket and the matching pen with it.

“A week. It all started a week ago… The screaming, the crying … We never did anything, assuming someone was just pulling a prank on us. One of our residents… Joey… He is quite a joker. But then… I realized he’d been off to vacation during the week… This added only more confusion.” He started biting his fingernails he seemed nervous about something, cold sweat on his forehead his expression one of dread. “And… then I went to the laundry basement one night and… There was this stuff on the wall… And the smell… It smelled like…”

“Blood? Decay?” Egon asked accidently. Marlon nodded “How did you…?”

“Lucky guess.” Egon lied. He had known… It was like in his nightmare. “Does this place have a history? Any murders that took place? Or anything else?”  
“Well… There was a rumor that a woman raped and killed her husband in the laundry basement. Nobody knows why, or if it actually happened. I don’t think it happened. Sounds way too farfetched.” Marlon told them while tapping on the table. He was visibly nervous. Winston observed him. “Way too farfetched… You might be right but maybe it did happen… How was he supposedly killed?”

“Are you Ghostbusters or the police?” Marlon asked, suddenly upset. “I refuse to believe that crimes like those happened in my building, that I inherited by my family.”

“Geez, calm down, man.” Winston rolled his eyes. Egon was done noting everything and passed the block and pen to Winston.

“Continue asking him. I’ll go downstairs to scan the anomaly.”

“Spengler. Be careful.” Winston stood up and put an attentive hand on Egon’s shoulder “Couldn’t stand to lose a friend like you.” He smiled a bit.  
Egon stood there a bit dumbstruck, but then smiled back a little. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” With shaky unsure steps, he walked out of Marlon’s apartment and down the stairs.  
He tried to ignore the tap of his feet against the stone hard ground, his sweaty palms, his beating heart and that weird tiring rush of adrenaline in his body. He would be soon there, the PKE-meter hasn’t moved a little bit and suddenly he thought about that… what Marlon said. Rumors about a murder, that’d make sense. The sounds of people… the ink like black liquid could be the blood that splattered on the floor. And the ghost of the victim… haunting it.

He shook his head. What stupid ideas he was having again. Pushing his glasses into place, he stood in front of the door leading to the laundry basement. Suddenly, the PKE-meter started going wild. He wasn’t sure if he wanted this to happen. “Pull yourself together, Egon.” He said to himself, finally opening the door. It screeched slightly; that hurt in his ears. Old clothes were hanging on cords and looked like nobody got to collect them in a while. He needed to focus here. Looking around he found the alleged black liquid and coming closer he felt the stinging smell of blood. Blood that smelled… Old. Extremely old. The stains were all over the walls, even behind the laundry dryer. In fact: There seemed to be a concentration of the liquid, as coming closer to it with the PKE-meter caused extreme readings.

Egon looked at the whole scene and felt a sense of… Déjà-vu. As if he had been here already. An image flashed in his mind. A woman with a gun, standing above a guy. His pants undone. He seems to be reaching out to someone. Egon shook the thoughts away, before he’d get sick and decided to move the laundry dryer. But what he saw behind it…

Black liquid.

In the form of a dead body leaning against the cold bricked wall.

Egon covered his mouth; he didn’t want to scream out loud. He had to stay collected, especially now. Taking a deep breath, he scanned the shape of the body, hearing the meter Bleep loudly, almost deafening. He had a sudden urge to throw that… damned thing away. Had the urge to walk towards the body. The liquid. He took a deep breath “There’s nobody here. It’s only… black liquid.” It was dripping down the wall. “This can’t be…” he mumbled as he heard screams. Sobbing. He dropped the PKE-meter to cover his ears.  
He felt himself become disconnected from his body.

Falling to his knees.

Slumping over.

The sound of screaming. Yelling. Insults.

The black liquid moving closer towards him.

Then, it suddenly just… stopped.

Egon stood up; nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for the supernatural black liquid on the walls. He started laughing “HA! I told you! I told you!” He yelled at… nobody. Nobody was there. He sighed, “It’s a bit too early to lose my sanity.” After collecting some samples of the liquid, he went back only to see Winston and Marlon.

“Are you okay? We heard someone scream.” Marlon said. Egon shook his head “No. I’m okay. I have some samples, I can scan.” He ignored the urge to shake; the urge to cry. He just wanted to get back to the HQ as fast as humanly possible.

Marlon asked, “Can I… leave you with the keys to the building?”

“That’d be utmost useful. We’ll probably have to come here from time to time…” Egon said, already sunken in thoughts again. Winston shrugged and took the keys Marlon offered to him. It was a bunch of them on a ring, a key to every apartment in the building. With a last good bye, they sat back into Ecto-1 and drove off.

“Winston? May I ask if you figured out something about this… quote on quote, rumor?”

“Yeah, sure thing… Apparently some lady named Audrey completely lost her shit 30 years ago.” Winston explained. “Straight up raped and shot her husband, for no real reason… Some kid had watched them and ran upstairs. That’s all the owner knew.”

“And when did this all happen?” Egon asked, getting a bit tired of all this exposition. He didn’t even wanna go to the HQ. He felt a bit sick as well.

“I guess 20 years or so.” Winston answered nonchalantly, seeming tired as well. 

Egon nodded, closed his eyes and decided to nap in the car until they arrived. Maybe the splitting headache would go away.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First contact is made with... the other one...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my Beta!

Chapter 2

The sudden feeling of the car braking woke him up. They were back at the HQ. Egon practically forced himself out of the car seat, only now did he realize how many hours of sleep he had missed and that it was slowly catching up to him “I don’t feel to well.” Egon said to Winston. All Winston could do was give him his sympathy “Maybe you’re getting the flu. You should probably call quits a bit earlier.”

 

“No way.” Egon said, looking at the container with the liquid “I’ve been late again, now I have to catch up the lost hours.”

“Whatever suits you. Just don’t overdue yourself.” Winston patted him on the back, entering the HQ

 

While nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Ray was tinkering with some machinery, Janine was sitting at her desk waiting for any phone calls and Peter Venkman was… Being Peter Venkman, Egon couldn’t help but feel uneasy again, with this potentially dangerous liquid in his hands. He presented it to Ray “This is a sample of the anomaly.” Trying to get it over quickly, he spoke a bit faster than intended.

“Great! Let’s analyze it then!” Ray said a bit excited. Egon suppressed a sigh; Of course his co-worker would be excited to study something new like this… But not this time “Ray, don’t… We have no idea if this is dangerous.”-“Come on Egon! I wanna know what this is about.”

“Ray… Please it’s for your own safety.” Egon felt the container with the liquid in his hand heat up. His head seemed to swell up with thoughts, the headache turned into a migraine and Ray’s voice became loud and obnoxious, borderline painful to listen to.

“Wouldn’t it be much safer if both-…”

“I SAID NO!” Egon yelled at him sudden anger bursting out of him, which shocked everyone, especially Ray. Egon wouldn’t usually lash out at people. Especially not his own co-workers. Egon himself seemed extremely surprised and the container felt like a brick in his hands. “Go. Go and analyze it then.” Ray said oddly reserved and quiet. Egon nodded and disappeared into his laboratory, feeling the judging gaze of Ray on the back of his neck. He had to apologize later.

 

Finally he sat down and started analyzing it. The smell of blood made him want to throw up, especially as the smell of decay had mixed in. It stung in his nostril extremely putrid and the liquid’s color turned into a much darker shade. “What the…” he put on leather gloves, and put a spoonful on it on a microscope. 

Looking through it, he saw something that made him realize, he’d been right all along: Blood particles. “If those are… Blood particles… Then the murder did happen…” more images flashed inside of his mind. He felt different, the images felt different, like a faraway memory. And then he heard a voice.

As if someone was standing behind next to him, whispering into his ear, crystal clear he heard...

“You could’ve saved me.”

He jumped at that and stepped away. His heart was hammering; he heard his blood rushing in his ears, as he dared to step forward again “I… I’m imagining things.” He said to himself “I’m just… imagining things.” Was it just him or did the room grow darker? The lights were flickering on and off. Was he just imagining that too?

He heard that voice again “You just… stood there.” It echoed and screeched painfully in his mind “I… didn’t… I wasn’t sure what to do…” Egon blabbered out, his whole body shaking violently, as the flickering of the lights became more painful. In between each flash a shadowy figure appeared and came closer “I cried… for help… But you ran away…”

“I didn’t mean to! I DIDN’T MEAN TO!” Egon cowered in the corner, covering his ears.

“I’ll make your life… hell…”

“Egon?” Another voice started to echo in his mind.

“You’re not real…” Egon mumbled to himself, closing his eyes.

“…Egon…”

“You’re not real…”

“Egon… seriously…”

“YOU’RE NOT FUCKING REAL!” he opened his eyes and saw a slightly dumbfounded Peter “Did I say something wrong?” he asked in a confused, almost offended manner “I just came in here and saw you cowering in the corner.”

“I… wasn’t cowering.” Egon quickly stood up “I’m alright. Must be the lack of sleep.” He took a deep, yet shaky breath and started cleaning his glasses.  
“Sure. Lack of sleep.” Peter said and smiled a bit sarcastic “It surely was the lack of sleep. That’s why you’ve been talking to nobody at all.”  
“Winston proposed, that I should leave earlier-“

“No way. I wanna know what happened.” Peter interrupted him “As you may know… I just happen to have a degree in psychology…”

“Para-psychology.” Egon corrected him.

“Same thing. Anyhow… You can always talk to doctor Venkman.”

“I’d feel much more secure talking to myself, thank you very much. No offense, but you’re not the most reliable person sometimes.” Egon cleaned up his work place “I’ll call it quits earlier. I really need some sleep.”

“Sure you don’t wanna talk?” Peter asked again, peaking over the other’s shoulder, as Egon was cleaning up his mess “Yes Peter. I’m completely sure I don’t want to talk about it.”  
“You’ll be sorry…” Peter cooed playfully.

“Quoting Looney Tunes isn’t gonna convince me any time soon.” Egon was finally done and went out of the laboratory, leaving a shrugging Peter behind. Egon sighed, as he saw Ray and said “Ray… I…”

“It’s okay.” Ray smiled “No hard feelings, I know about the nightmares and all, so I guess I shouldn’t take it so personally.”

“Thank you… for understanding.” Egon said a bit relieved. Ray was the last person who he wanted as an enemy “I scanned the anomaly and…” he stopped. Should he lie to him? Should he tell Ray about what happened? About the blood particles? About the hallucinations, if they even were hallucinations? Should he- “Hey… Uhm… Egon?”

“Sorry. I lost my train of thought.” Egon stammered “I haven’t discovered anything yet. I’ll take it home with my and continue researching there.” It was a terrible idea, Egon was aware of that. But should he keep it here and possibly endanger all of his co-workers? No.

“Home…? Are you calling quits?”

“I’m sorry Ray, but the lack of sleep is driving me nuts… And if it’s gotten to the point where I’m physically ill…” Egon explained, but stopped when Ray put an affectionate hand on his shoulder “its okay. Take some days off if you want, you really don’t seem too well.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Egon smiled a little “I’ll be going then… and Ray…?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.”

“Why?” Ray tilted his head a bit confused.

“Just a heads up. Due to our job. So many things could happen.”

“…”

“Yes, I should probably leave.” Egon walked awkwardly away, the container with the liquid in his hands. He had some equipment at home, so it shouldn’t be a problem. He suddenly noticed, that he had the keys to Marlon Smitt’s building. The question was… Home? Or the building? The next bus to his apartment would arrive in an hour, so he might as well… “Yes… I might as well…”

 

He arrived at the building, that seemed… different. There was a different feeling to it. The area around him was devoid of any people; Egon felt like he was stranded in an apocalyptic world “There’s no turning back now.” He said to himself, as he turned the key in the entrance door and when he grabbed the doorknob, he felt pain shooting through his body and forcing him to the ground. He let go and kicked the door in instead.

But when he stepped into the entrance.

He couldn’t repress a scream.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares become real...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to my Beta!

Chapter 3

He stood in the entrance of the building, hyperventilating, his heart beating fast “No…” The whole stairway was covered with black liquid, basically flooded. In front of the door to the laundry basement was a pool of it. What had he unleashed? “Oh god…” He felt being dragged into the mess. Looking down he saw the shadowy figure, emerged from the pool of black liquid, grabbing him by the ankle.

“E-gon…”

“Let go of me!” Egon yelled at the figure, frantically trying to shake him off. He lost all balance and fell down, his head hitting on the hard cement ground.  
“You… could’ve saved me…”

“THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO!” the other cried out, shaking violently as he was dragged into the liquid. The smell was overwhelming and Egon tried to hold onto the stair way. The figure hissed “I have been waiting for this moment…”

“W-waiting…?” Egon’s mouth became dry

“There was so much I wanted to do in my life…”

“WHO ARE YOU?” Egon asked again, panicky, his eyes wide open, finally seeing the shadowy figure. It looked like a mannequin, with piercing red eyes. The figure was now on top of him, cupping his face and starring right into his eyes.

“Just as I thought… You’re the boy… With the tainted eyes…”

“Tainted… eyes…” Egon repeated, feeling suddenly too tired to fight back, those images flashed back in his mind… The plea… the cry for help…  
“…Get off me…” Egon heard himself say “HELP ME KID! SHE’S OFF HER ROOKERS!” he was violently shaking.

“You have… seen… it…” the figure whispered and started to dissolve and engulf Egon. The liquid burned in his eyes, that were still wide open and Egon tried standing up, but was held down by a force… That felt like someone lying on top of him. His mouth was preyed open by invisible hands and the liquid entered.   
It tasted exactly how he dreamt it.

But much worse. The taste of rottenness, blood and decomposition, mixed with gunpowder and sperm, caused him to gag, to the point that he was afraid he’d puke out his internal organs. Swallowing it felt like swallowing razorblades and he could’ve sworn it was cutting into his throat.

It even burned like acid on his skin, as he heard the laughter… The sadistic laughter of someone in his mind. He wanted to stand up again, the pain was unbearable. He wanted run away, he had the urge to gauge out his eyes, to stop them from burning.

Had the desire to claw of his skin, to stop the feeling of acid eating at him.

He wanted to cut his stomach open, cut open every single vein on his body to get this stuff out of his system.

But all he could do… Was weeping.

Weep in complete defeat and sickness.

“Oh… GOD!” he gurgled in agony as the laughter got louder, echoing inside the whole building. Egon was sure, he’d die. There was no way he could survive this. There was no way he could handle this. The last thing he remembered was… Passing out.

 

He woke up inside the building and slowly stood up on extremely shaky legs, yet his body felt way too light. “What…” he looked around. Everything was normal. No liquid. No voices…

Reality had returned.

Egon sat on the step of a stair and took of his glasses, to bury his face in his hands. He wasn’t sure why but he started to laugh. Maybe some sick twisted side of him found some sort of absurdity in it all. Egon was breathing heavily, sweat beads on his forehead. But still laughing, a rather desperate laugh. All he wanted was to go home and sleep. He stood up again, slowly making his way to the door.

The next few minutes back home, felt like he was in a weird fever dream. He noticed people looking strangely at him, here and there, but Egon couldn’t care less. He couldn’t think straight, or concentrate; he could not comprehend what had happened in the building, even though it was completely obvious, it should have been completely obvious to him.

His nightmare had become a cruel reality.

“I… just don’t understand…” he mumbled to himself, which caused an old man next to him to worry “What’s wrong sonny?” he asked and Egon flinched, caught off guard.  
“It’s… nothing.” He said lost in thoughts “I just feel a bit sick.” Egon stared blankly into the air he wasn’t sure what he should focus on, his mind was racing but still felt like a blank slate, the old man seemed a little concerned “Listen here sonny… I could help ya out. I seen a lot in my life ya know?”

“I… think I saw something, that I shouldn’t have seen when I was little…” he answered slowly, he only felt his mouth move he couldn’t hear the words, could only feel the vibration from his voice. The old man nodded understanding “Snoopin’ around in your ol’ mother’s drawer huh?”

“Yes.” He lied out of nowhere “That’s what I did.” Egon didn’t understand why he was lying again but maybe the old man wouldn’t believe him, should he tell him about the liquid. Some things are probably better kept secret.

The man stood up, shaking leaning on his walking stick and started to grin a huge Cheshire cat smile “Liar. You are a liar… I recognize you. The boy with the tainted eyes…”  
“…No…” Egon clasped the container with the liquid in disbelief, which was heating up again. He shook his head this couldn’t be happening. Egon couldn’t believe that this guy had any idea what was going on “I… Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, trying to sound as collected as possible, keeping a straight, yet crumbling façade. 

“You could’ve saved him. He was my neighbor and a good friend of mine.” The old man sounded angry “I will never forget the day, you ran past me…”

“This is my stop. I have to leave.” Egon stood up, still keeping up his façade that was more and more crumbling, confusion and anger boiling up inside of him and mixing in with fear. The man cried after him “He’s coming after you sonny. You can’t escape him!” and the old man laughed. Egon turned around to say something to ask him what he wanted, but…

The man was gone. 

And everybody was looking at him as if he was insane. Egon turned to the first person and asked “Have you seen an old man get out of the bus?” Maybe he had just missed the moment the old man had gotten of the bus. The person responded “I’m afraid I haven’t seen anybody.” Egon nodded politely. So the old man was yet another hallucination. 

Egon bit his bottom lip, to not burst into hysterical, desperate laughter.

He really had to go to sleep.

 

Home sweet home. 

Those were the scientist’s first thought, upon entering his home and putting the container down and flopping onto the couch, hiding his face in his hands. He was breathing shallow and shaky, his heart racing again. This was simply too much for him. “I need a shower.” He mumbled and stood up, feeling like he was forcing himself towards the bathroom, his body heavy, as if he was carrying someone else.

He arrived in the bathroom and started undressing. Egon started to turn on the water, turning the faucet to warm. That ought to help him with falling asleep. He stepped underneath and felt the warm water against his bare skin, which relaxed him a little. Egon closed his eyes, letting the water affect him. But then he started to feel sick.  
First it was a little stomach ache. Then it became a feeling of overwhelming sickness, he felt something crawling inside him and he wanted to throw up. 

He got out and quickly put on a bathrobe, water was dripping onto the floor and he imagined it being the liquid. Why? Egon didn’t know, but that was the least of his worries. He kneeled in front of the toilet and hurled. It tasted… weird. Not like old food, not even like stomach acid. He looked at it and… For a second it looked like, bloody chunks of flesh with maggots crawling in them, like he had thrown up a dead body. But the image was only there for a split second until it turned into that what he had expected. His breakfast, not fully digested.

The water was still running in the background and Egon sat onto the ground “When will this madness stop?” he mumbled. He was too weak to scream. He wanted to give up, give it all up. Slowly turning off the faucet, he tried to repress his fear. Then he heard the TV turning on, a news report was on. “I didn’t turn it on.” Egon said anxious “I didn’t…”  
The report became static the closer Egon walked towards the TV and the news report changed to a crime scene on it. He immediately turned it off. “I… should be used to this by now.” Egon sighed and sat on the couch again.

What he didn’t expect, was blood leaking out of his TV.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's real? And what isn't? Only one way to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to my Beta.

Chapter 4

He was trying not to scream. He tried to stay calm and collected. It was leaking out of his TV and slowly dripping onto the ground, making a puddle on it, stains that would probably never go away. On his walls appeared bloody handprints, with loud ‘smack’ sounds as if someone was slapping the walls. Egon started breathing rapidly, dangerously close to a panic attack, stepping backwards to his drawer, to get his PKE meter out, he kept in there for instances like those.

It didn’t move. Whatever was happening wasn’t registered on the PKE meter. Egon dropped it in disbelief and stood there for a while. What was he to do? The PKE meter didn’t pick up the signal, so… 

Was it real?

Did it happen?

Only one way to find out. 

Egon slowly walked towards the puddle and kneeled down, stretching his right hand out. It touched the still warm deep dark red liquid. It was really there, so how did the meter not check it? It’s definitely of supernatural nature. “Oh… god…” Egon stepped away, starring at his hand, blood slowly running down his arm into the sleeve of his bathrobe.

“W-why?”

The TV turned on again and there was a message in the static screen, reading…

‘dellips eb llahs doolb neht ...peels reve uoy dluohs’

Egon’s eyes widened… What did this mean? The PKE meter hasn’t moved hasn’t even made any noises. “I can’t be imagining this.” He wrote the message down, maybe it meant something. Now all he had to do was to stay calm. 

Stay calm…

STAY CALM!

The doorbell rang and Egon jumped up “Oh god, what now?” he mumbled exhausted and opened the door. Ray stood there with a plastic container “Hey Egon! I thought I’d bring you some chicken soup. It’s good against the flu.”

“Ray! Thank goodness you’re here! My TV… It started leaking blood!” Egon said, showing Ray his right hand, still blood covered. Ray gave him a puzzled frown “Uhm… I don’t see anything.” To him, everything was still clean “Did the PKE meter pick anything up?”

“No…” Egon tilted his head and sighed “Look… My wall has bloody handprints…” he led Ray inside his apartment and showed him the puddle and the wall, even the message in the TV. Ray just looked at him “Egon… I really don’t see anything.”-“But… It was right here.” Egon said hoarsely. Ray sighed “When people don’t sleep enough they start hallucinating.”  
“But… But it isn’t a hallucination!” Egon insisted and Ray sighed. He kneeled down and touched the puddle “Ray! Ray, don’t…”

“Egon.” Ray stood up and showed Egon his blood drenched hand. To Ray it was still clean though. Egon shook his head and backed off “Ray… I’m not hallucinating. Hallucinations go away after a while. This one has been here for a long time.”

“Please. Listen to me.” Ray put his hand on Egon’s cheek, which left a bloody handprint. Egon yelped and slapped the other’s hand away “Egon please…”  
“Ray… Don’t… Don’t touch me please…” He was shaking heavily, breathing rapidly and seemed to be on edge “I had a harsh day and… Oh god, my TV was leaking blood… Why can’t you see it?!”

“There is no blood Egon.” Ray said, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice.

“THERE IS!” he screamed “IT’S THERE! I SWEAR IT’S THERE!”

“I’m… I’m gonna leave now.” Ray said and flinched back “Rest a little”

“BUT IT’S THERE.”

Ray put the soup on the table “Look, you’re probably tired.” He said, trying to hide the confusion and fear he was feeling. “Ray… You have to believe me.” Egon begged. But Ray just stepped backwards and shook his head “I’m sorry Egon.”

“Ray…”

“I’m so sorry.” And he left, Egon looking at him “You usually believe me Ray. Why don’t you believe me this time?”

“I just can’t. I can’t believe you. Not when you're... Like this.” The door closed and Egon was alone, the puddle of blood behind him. Egon decided to change into clothes and clean it. He couldn’t stand looking at it anymore. As he left the room, he didn’t look back, he wanted distraction. And there was still the message he saw. One thing at a time.

After he changed into clothes and went back into the living room, he saw that everything was clean. The blood the message… Everything. So Ray must’ve been right. It was a hallucination. Egon closed his eyes and felt relief washing over him. He sat onto the couch, to study the message.

‘dellips eb llahs doolb neht ...peels reve uoy dluohs’

But as Ray said: It was all just a hallucination, which probably included the message so why should he worry about it? That’s when he noticed his reflection on the black screen of the TV. Ray’s bloody handprint was still there. So it wasn’t a hallucination? He was too tired to argue with himself. He had to figure out what the message meant and then go to sleep. 

 

It seemed like nothing but gibberish. Even after an hour passed he didn’t figure out what it meant, he couldn’t think straight, he was too exhausted for it and all those events left his mind in shambles. Egon’s eyes fell continuously and he wanted to sleep. But the message would keep him awake anyway. He sighed and turned on the TV, maybe getting his mind of things for a few moments would help him. The first thing he saw was that they were showing ‘The Shining’. “Christ… I shouldn’t watch this.” And Egon was about to change the channel, but he noticed a scene that caught his attention.

‘Redrum’ 

It was the scene, where the mother discovered that Redrum meant Murder, backwards. He thought about it for a while. Could it be possible that…  
No, that’d be too obvious and it was a way too convenient solution. But then again, what did he have to lose?

He grabbed his notebook and took it with him to the bathroom, looking at it in the mirror. And he was right, the message became readable. That’s when he realized, that it wasn’t a hallucination. That everything that had happened so far to him was real. It wasn’t the lack of sleep. No hallucination could produce a message this specific.

‘Should you ever sleep… then blood shall be spilled’


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We were drifting off... numb... have to stay awake... numb have to stay awake...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to my beta. TW self harm.

His heart stood still for a moment, as he starred at the message. He refused to believe what it said. Refused to believe what he… what he’d have to do to himself. “Not sleep. That’s… That’s all I have to do.” He stood up from the couch and just stood there for a while in front of the TV. He didn’t say anything; he engulfed himself in complete silence. 

Egon closed his eyes.

He started smiling a little.

His little smile turned into a big one.

A maniacal grin.

Laughter, loud forced laughter, mixed with sobs as he kneeled down and curled up on the floor, he wasn’t sure what to feel, or why he was laughing even though tears stung in his eyes. A loud scream escaped his throat. What was it that he felt? Sadness? Fear? amusement? Anger? He suddenly just wanted to sleep, but he couldn’t.

How long could he handle it? How long could he stay awake?

“No… I can’t think like this. Not now. I have to… Stay awake until… Until I find a solution.” He mumbled to himself and sighed. Coffee. A coffee would help him right now. Concentrating all his thoughts on coffee, he dragged himself to the kitchen and felt watched there was someone lurking in the shadows.

His throat felt sore and the way to the kitchen felt much longer and stretched out.

Egon’s eyelids felt heavy and he wanted to sleep. But he couldn’t allow himself to do so, he’d unleash something… 

Or someone.

Someone? He shook his head, it happened so many years ago… The guy was dead. He coughed a little, if he went without sleep, it would strain his health, physical and psychological. Egon started up the coffee machine and went to the sink to splash cold water onto his face. He took of his glasses and took a deep shaky breath, breathing out a bit too shallow and nervous. He opened the faucet and let the cold water run, splashing some of the cold water into his face. That seemed to wake him up a little. Cold water ran down his heated skin, he felt like he was having a fever dream.

But he couldn’t give up.

He was tired.

He couldn’t give up. The coffee was down and he quickly poured it into a cup. He missed it and spilled most of it onto his hand. The sudden burning pain gave him a burst of adrenalin and he dropped the cup. That was one way to stay awake. His brain suddenly seemed to process everything a bit too slow and his whole body started to slowly go numb…

Slowly drifted of. 

Egon shook his head and bashed it against the counter, to get him up again “I mustn’t… I can’t sleep!” he shouted to himself, repeating it like a mantra. His head started aching now. He needed some aspirin. He left the puddle of coffee and the shards on the ground for later, that’s when he’s clean them.

He couldn’t even think straight, his mind seemed distraught. All he needed was sleep…

He arrived at the bathroom and opened the cupboard with the aspirin in it.

The message didn’t say who’s blood was gonna spill. Should he risk it? No, he shouldn’t. He had to do this… Had to make this sacrifice.

 

Egon swallowed the pill and felt drool run down his face and wiped it of. Looking at his hand he saw blood, but only for a split second. He calmed himself. He was hallucinating.  
“Okay…” he was breathing heavily “I just have to know… What’s real, what’s happening and in what reality I’m currently in…” Egon told himself as he wadded out of the bathroom. 

The living room was lit.

No it wasn’t.

He shook his head. What? Were the lights on? He used the switch. Did he turn them on or off? He wasn’t sure. He flicked the switch again.

“Reality… I need to…” He quickly closed his eyes and opened them again. His living room was cold and dark again. Egon switched the light flick, almost in victory as if he had won some sort of game. Of to clean the mess in the kitchen. But first he had to sit down for a while. Not for long.

Only two minutes.

He wanted to sit down for two minutes. He needed a break. Sleep, Egon knew he needed sleep, but he couldn’t cave in. He turned on the TV. Some entertainment would keep him awake. He had forgotten about the cup in the kitchen, his body felt unreal and he once again felt himself be disconnected from his body. Every movement he made felt incredibly unnatural as if someone else was doing them. He was completely numb and he had to do something about it.

But what should he do? Should he wait until it was over?

He wandered around in his apartment, feeling restless as he turned on every light. Then there was this overwhelming sickness again, but he didn’t feel like he had to throw up. 

Just sickness.

He got back to the kitchen, feeling incredibly dizzy. He couldn’t think right. Where was he? His kitchen of course. That was his kitchen. He suddenly felt a stinging pain in his foot.  
“Fuck.” He cursed to himself. He stepped on a shard from the coffee cup. But the numbness was gone and he watched with a strange fascination, how the blood and the cold coffee mixed. Was that how he could get himself back to reality? He shouldn’t do that…

But that was the only way to… wake up

No, not wake up; to stay awake. He grabbed a breadknife and looked at it. It seemed sharp enough. Seemed good enough. But then again… it’d leave scars and people would ask questions. And when he had to answer them, what should he say?

‘I had to stay awake, I felt numb, I had to stay awake, I can never sleep or blood will be spilled’

Those were the possible answers. The numbness returned the desire to sleep. But he couldn’t. He put the tip of the knife on his upper arm and slowly cut into it. The numbness disappeared again, the pain woke him up.

Another cut.

Another

Another

He had lost count on how many cuts he had made, but the numbness was replaced by cold steel cutting into his skin, warm blood dripping onto the floor, the painful burning that’d keep him awake.

He closed his eyes and opened them again. 

And the black liquid was dropping onto the floor.

And Egon started to laugh.

It was all just funny to him.

And this anomaly was just a punch line to an incredibly tasteless joke.


End file.
